Keeping My Promise to Popo
In this personal essay, as Anne Liu Kellor says goodbye to her Chinese grandmother in the hospital, she taps into buried memories and family trauma.
It Comes in Waves
In this personal essay, years after her cousin was killed, Lilly Dancyger is haunted by images of murdered women in the news.
What Is Happening to My Body?
Devorah Heitner reflects on the ways she is reclaiming her relationship to her own body while grappling with the legacy of her mother’s poor body image and early death.
After Three Children, Reclaiming My Body and My Mind
In the wake of childbirth and postpartum complications affecting her mental health and her marriage, Ukamaka Olisakwe picks herself up and starts over — in grad school.
Hot for Teacher
When a student in her writing workshop submits a piece suggesting his character could “take” a teacher just like her “atop her desk,” Courtney Zoffness is flooded with memories of men touching her against her will.
Exilium Vita Est: The Island Home of Victor Hugo
Emma Jacobs takes us on an illustrated journey of Hugo’s writing life in exile on Guernsey, where he completed Les Misérables.
Fugitive Justice
After stumbling upon the scene of the capture of an escaped murderer, clinical social worker Jennifer Lunden grapples with the polarities of innocence and guilt, social neglect and social justice.
Anaphylaxis of the Mind
A personal essay in which Alyson Pomerantz reframes her understanding of illness when an allergic reaction turns out to be something else.
When Your Social Worker Thinks You’re Ungrateful
In this personal essay, Dina Nayeri’s patience is tried as she accompanies an immigrant family into a bureaucratic nightmare.
When Running Toward Yourself Looks Like Running Away
A personal essay in which Amber Leventry recalls how getting sober forced them to confront and reveal important truths about their identity.